


beast, bare your teeth

by highfalutin baby birb (fevered_dreams)



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, vii - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Prostitution, he's just trying to get into the honeybee inn, really just zack being madly in love with cloud, sometimes, zack's a soldier but cloud has nothing to do with shinra
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:54:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24706411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fevered_dreams/pseuds/highfalutin%20baby%20birb
Summary: Zack meets Cloud, falls in love with him, and tries his hardest to get Cloud to love him back.Cloud tries his best to not get swept away in the unfortunate mess that is one Zackary Fair, but things aren’t always that easy.Especially not in Midgar.Zack felt as if he were staring down at a pampered designer kitten with the kind of blue eyes people paid good money for.Glittering blue things. People bred their brood for such eyes with extreme care, milking the mother dry with litter upon litter all for those eyes. It was dirty work, but no one could deny the allure of the result; to be able to call a stunning creature with those blue’s yours, your pet, your love, your sweet darling, was above morality, and Zack was no different.
Relationships: Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Comments: 33
Kudos: 153





	1. Chapter 1

He stood at the back of the crowd, baby blue eyes glimmering from the fireworks bursting overhead, and Zack was in love with him. 

Honestly, Zack didn’t actually believe in love at first sight. That was, not until this very moment. The guys who crowed about such things when they were boys always ended up being the worst of the bunch, after all — the type with sunken eyes and lecherous grins, skulking in back alleys like sick rats. What pitiable creatures. 

Zack liked to think he was a bit better than them.

(He wasn’t, but he tried.)

As a result, he had never given love at first sight much thought. His own dad loved to drunkenly regale him with stories of how he had never paid Zack’s mom any attention until he saw her single handedly fighting off a rogue bandit at the outskirts of Gongaga with nothing more than the back of her new kitten heels. The rest, as they say, was history, all thanks to his dad’s propensity to get riled up at the sight of his mom’s fury. 

But _that_ wasn’t love at first sight. It wasn’t even a slow crawl. It was near anonymity. Mutual disinterest steeped in a hint of vague recognition until it wasn’t anymore, and then they were forever in love and always lovely. 

_This_ … this cruel fixation with a stranger fitted within the guise of a beautiful young man — but was he even a man, really, or still a baby-faced boy on the cusp of adulthood — and being filled with unbridled affection and molten desire felt like nothing his dad had ever described to him regarding the birds, the bees, and the beauty of opening your eyes and truly seeing what had been in front of you the whole time. 

Another set of fireworks went off, contained within the latest technological advancements to alight without damaging the plate above them. Considering all the pomp and circumstance Shinra put into this festival or parade or whatever they ended up calling it, the firework designs must be beautiful. It would be a shame to not admire a few of them. 

Of course, Zack saw none of them. Instead, he kept his eyes fixed on the love of his life, on the blonde splay of unruly hair atop his head, bangs framing his blue eyes like a sinfully loose robe draped haphazardly over a vision of pure beauty, on the slope of his nose down to plump, pink lips pursed into something soft and far-off. Zack stared and stared and stared because how could he not stare? Even the thought of turning his attention elsewhere burned. To look away from such a sight would surely kill him. 

Love was terrifying. 

Love was delicious. 

Unconsciously, Zack took a step forward, desperate to get closer to that breathtaking boy. Then another. He took a few more steps in quick succession, almost running over a squealing girl in the process before Love turned his head and met Zack’s gaze with his own. 

He looked younger like this. From head-on, the youthful suppleness of Love’s skin shone clearly, even from yards and miles and what felt like eons away, and the curve of the corner of his lips looked nothing short of captivating. His eyes, too, didn’t dim at all as he stared back at Zack underneath the starless plate-laden sky.

And, like a kid struck dumb, Zack could only stare on. His feet remained rooted to the ground, so engrossed in the image before him. It took all his energy just to keep his head straight. Any movement, even the simplest of steps forward, was inconceivable.

Love parted his lips, and Zack could write sonnets about those lips. With rapt attention, Zack watched Love open his mouth before pursing the edges of his lips upwards. Was he speaking? Or perhaps just getting ready to offer Zack a weary smile, the pinched kind you flash at strange men who keep staring at you from across a crowd. If so, not ideal, but Zack would be the last person to refuse it. 

Something metallic and distinctly disconcerting popped to Zack’s right, and someone screamed in time with the crackling of sparks. Instinctively, Zack turned his head, only to be met with a firework canister that broke too low. No one appeared hurt, though. The same girl he nearly bowled over earlier was safely nestled within her mother’s arms, so all was well, and Zack could return to shamelessly indulging in his newest obsession.

He turned back to the boy with the enigmatic sweetness, so fast he nearly snapped his own neck in the process. He just wanted to see him again, watch those lips move. Wanted to hear his voice, or see the trepidation-wrapped smile that threatened to emerge. Because whatever he offered Zack was enough. 

Everything. 

Except, Zack found emptiness where Love had been standing mere moments ago, and maybe this bereft feeling looming over him actually was the same brand of love his dad tried to tell ~~warn~~ him about.

* * *

Zack found him again by chance. Technically. Sure, running into the love of his life a second time that night wasn’t exactly a preordained gift from above, but to gloss over the fact that he spent the next few hours running amok through the entire sector in search of him would be a tad bit deceiving. Just a tad, though. He wanted to bask in the feeling of destiny for just a little longer. 

Because it felt like destiny when he rounded a corner at the end of a dimly-lit street with a swivel, searching. Hopeful. Desperate, so desperate. He peered his head around the corner and met a splash of blonde spikes blooming before rust brick walls. 

Love jerked his head up at the sound of Zack’s steel-toed boots scraping against broken cobblestone. Their eyes met, almost as if in slow-motion. 

God, he was beautiful, and Zack felt like flying. And falling. 

Love broke the eye contact a moment later, flickering his gaze down at the floor in front of him. Curious — jealous, petty and needy — Zack followed. 

Crumpled at Love’s feet lay a man, unconscious and a touch worse for wear. 

“I didn’t do anything to him,” Love said. His voice pitched deeper than Zack expected from such a pretty little thing, and a bit harsher, too, but it still flowed so perfect Zack practically cooed at the sound of it. 

“It’s fine. You’re not in trouble or anything. Even if you were, I don’t really have the authority to do anything about it,” Zack said. Giddiness bubbled in the back of his throat, hard to swallow down. It made him feel light and lightheaded. Lifted, heaved. 

Beautiful boy narrowed his eyes. “Then why have you been following me around all night?”

Well, so much for all of Shinra’s stealth training. Well, maybe the onus was a bit more skewed towards Zack than them, in this case. After all, who had time for caution when life and love was passing them by? 

Zack shook his head before opening himself up, slowly extending his arms out, palms up as a silent peace offering. “To be honest, I’m just… interested in you.”

Love wrinkled his nose in question, and even that proved to be one of the cutest things Zack had ever had the great fortune to witness. “Excuse me?”

“I wanna get to know you better. Hang out, maybe take you out somewhere nice on the plate, if that’s what you’re into. What’s your name?” Zack blurted in an impatient gust. Love was so close, just a few meters in front of him and so real, but it was too slow, and Zack never did get the whole waiting thing. 

“You really think I’m just gonna give my name to a stranger who’s been stalking me for the past two hours?”

“I’ll tell you mine.” Zack stepped forward and tried not to wince at the sight of Love shying away from him. He extended a hand slowly, as if placating a wild beast. This time, Love let it be. “Zackary Fair, at your service. You can call me Zack.”

“And I’m supposed to believe that?”

“Let me prove it to you, then.” With deft, hasty hands, Zack pulled out his Shinra ID from his wallet before gracelessly pushing it towards Love’s furrowed brow. Without once losing sight of Zack’s face, Love quickly examined the card. 

“SOLDIER, huh?” he hummed. 

“Yup, got promoted to Second Class a few months ago. Hope to make it to First Class by the end of the year.”

A scoff. “Good luck with that.”

“So, what’s your name?” Zack prodded again.

This time, he was met with a sigh. It smelled of resignation and tasted of victory, in Zack’s mind. 

“Cloud.”

Zack’s mind teetered along slowly. He suspected the fading adrenaline upon reuniting with Love mucked up all the brain chemicals, or something. Clumsily, he looked up, and, for some reason, expected to see something other than the metal plate hanging over them.

Another scoff wafted over him, but it came through gentler this time with a hint of begrudging whimsy. “My name. It’s Cloud.”

 _Cloud_.

Cloud, Cloud, Cloud. 

Zack rolled the word around in his mouth, diving deep into its crevices with a greedy tongue. A single syllable, one he had surely spoken many times before. A common word, in the grand scheme of things. 

The scheme of things of a world gone past — a world Zack couldn’t bear to live in anymore because Cloud didn’t exist in that world, and the thought burned. 

Love’s name was Cloud. It was a wonderful name for a wonderful specimen, and Zack fell even more, down and down until his feet ceased to exist and all he knew stood before him with an unimpressed look. 

Cloud cocked his head to one side while his lithe hips tilted to the other. He was getting impatient. Zack was already messing this up.

“Cloud, huh? I like it. It’s a cool name. Different,” Zack finally responded, and his lips shuddered with anticipation as he finally let the name fall out of his mouth. 

“My mom had a weird sense of humor.”

A pause. Zack let a whole four seconds rove over them before deciding that Cloud wasn’t going to elaborate more on that. 

“Still, I think it’s nice.” Another pause, a decidedly awkward one this time. Zack used to consider himself pretty suave, in his own way. Now, though, he could hardly think straight in the face of Cloud’s cute little raised eyebrow. “So, how have you been enjoying the night so far? Shinra’s finally doing something kinda nice down here, huh?”

“I probably would’ve enjoyed it more if I didn’t have a deranged man stalking me for half the night,” Cloud deadpanned. 

Zack winced, and this time he couldn’t hide it. Put like that, the whole “chasing after the love of my life to avoid losing out on the best thing that’s happened to me” scenario didn’t feel so righteous anymore. 

Still, the sly smile streaking across Cloud’s breathtaking visage helped absolve Zack’s belated guilt a bit. Slowly, tentatively, with no teeth but probably too much want, Zack smiles back.

“Anyway, what happened to him?” Zack gestured to the man sprawled haphazardly at Cloud’s feet. “You know him?”

Cloud shook his head. His blonde spikes bounced with him, almost like a set of hands waving, inviting Zack to creep on closer. 

It took everything in Zack to remain standing an acceptable distance away. Everything and more, and he still wanted.

“Not really. He’s just some guy I found passed out drunk here while I was trying to get away from you. I stopped for a second to check that he was still alive, and then that’s when you caught up,” Cloud explained.

“That’s nice of you.”

Cloud shrugged absentmindedly. “It’d be a shame to let a mostly loyal customer rot away in a place like this just because he got a little excited with all the commotion going on.”

“Customer? You a salesman or something?”

“You could say that.”

“Come on, don’t do that to me. Like I said, I just wanna get to know you better. Nothing nefarious about it. Really.”

“Not interested.”

“At least hear me out. Maybe let me take you out on a nice date, woo you a little bit. I got a raise with my promotion, so I can treat you to dinner _and_ drinks, I’ll have you know.”

Cloud rolled his eyes. It should’ve been insulting, but instead it struck Zack as equal parts enigmatic and illustrious. “You really think I’m that easy?”

Zack spluttered, and his face flushed a lurid hot. “No, I just…” He trailed off because he just what? Wanted to sweep a man off his feet after finally exchanging pleasantries? Wanted to whisk said man home and feed him not-too-stale-yet cereal and cheap booze before tucking him into bed and watching the way his eyelashes fluttered as he slept?

Wanted and wanted and wanted. Want filled Zack, and Zack became want. 

That wasn’t something one said aloud before a first date, though, so Zack kept his mouth shut and prayed that Cloud couldn’t see the pure desire emanating off of him. 

Thankfully, Cloud just laughed. Though, whether from amusement or something else remained a mystery. “Tell you what —“ he took a step forward, light and barely audible against the stone-laden path, even to Zack’s mako-enhanced senses. “ — if you manage to find me again, maybe I will go on that date with you.”

“What do you mean?”

Cloud didn’t respond — not verbally, at least. As a substitute for the spoken word, he stopped himself mere inches in front of Zack and raised himself smoothly onto his tiptoes. Like that, he still couldn’t meet Zack’s height. Like that, he looked even smaller than he had from a distance. Zack felt as if he were staring down at a pampered designer kitten with the kind of blue eyes people paid good money for. 

Glittering blue things. People bred their brood for such eyes with extreme care, milking the mother dry with litter upon litter all for those eyes. It was dirty work, but no one could deny the allure of the result; to be able to call a stunning creature with those blue’s _yours_ , your pet, your love, your sweet darling, was above morality, and Zack was no different. 

Cloud cocked his head to the side and opened his mouth slightly. There it was again, that slow parting of his lips. It looked like a secret. Like the elusive riddle of an ornate mausoleum with untold treasures housed within instead of the dead. Predictably, Zack leaned in closer, eager to hear it. 

He was met with Cloud’s lips on his own. Plump, warm, and slightly chapped, they pushed and pushed until Zack could do nothing else but let Cloud do as he pleased. Apparently, Cloud pleased to push his tongue against Zack’s. The warmth spread everywhere, in-between the crevices of Zack’s teeth and lining of his gums, and he felt heady.

And hot. Too hot, in fact, and worryingly lightheaded. 

As quickly as he arrived, Cloud left again, stepping away from Zack with a wicked grin that waved at the seams. Was Cloud shaking, or was that Zack?

“What… what’s going on?” Zack asked as the world blurred around him. Nothing but the plate hung above them. He knew that, but he swore he could see a whole field of shooting stars streaking across the skyline at an alarming pace. 

No Cloud’s, however. It was unbearably clear out tonight.

“Just thought I’d give you a little goodnight kiss. I do have to get going, after all, but I figured you deserved something for all your efforts,” Cloud said before flashing Zack a smile, teeth and hidden ampoule and all.

“You drugged me,” Zack accused, but it sounded far less impressive than he intended. His tongue was too heavy for that. 

“You got me. To be honest, I thought a SOLDIER wouldn’t go down so easily. Looks like Shinra really is going downhill,” Cloud mused.

Zack tried to shake the sparks away from the corner of his eyes, but that just made it worse. He stepped forward once, stumbled, and made one last-ditch effort to reach Cloud. To convince him to love Zack back. 

Cloud sidestepped away from him with painful ease. The forecast predicted clear skies for days.

“Just take it easy. It’s not like there’s much else you can do.”

Zack tried to resist. He really did. His pride almost matched his love, in this case. However, none of that mattered as his knees buckled in time with the encroaching darkness over his line of vision.

“Maybe you SOLDIER’s really are no different from the rest of us.”

* * *

Zack awoke several hours later, safely tucked away behind two dumpsters with fifteen missed calls on his phone and even more money missing from his wallet. 

Being a SOLDIER paid decently well. If it didn’t, the number of recruits vying for the position would certainly fall faster than the price of housing in the slums. Still, the new lightness of his wallet stung. Worse than that, however, was the endless disappointment that washed over him upon realizing that Cloud was, in fact, gone. He had probably left as soon as he managed to shove Zack’s body somewhere marginally safe, all without a care in the world.

Because, the truth was, he didn’t care about Zack. A reasonable reaction, considering the fact that they were essentially strangers, but the truth still fucking hurt.

It continued to tear away at Zack for days, even as he got verbally chewed out by the Director for his ‘indiscretions’ and physically battered by Angeal’s insistence that extra training might finally knock some sense into him.

“I know you’re not exactly the brightest, but I didn’t think you were this naive,” Angeal sighed. He swung his blade down in a sharp arc, and Zack barely parried it before it struck. “Did your parents never teach you to be wary of strangers you meet in dimly-lit alleyways?”

“Oh, but you should’ve seen him, Angeal! He was the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen, absolutely perfect. I couldn’t not try to find him, alleyway or not. His name was Cloud, by the way. Said his mom was a funny woman, or something. Hey, you happen to know any Cloud’s?” Zack rambled, side-stepping away from Angeal’s incoming slash.

“Unfortunately, I don’t,” Angeal said with a shadow of a smile — an indulgent, pitying thing. He surely thought Zack was a fool, driven by juvenile lovesickness. Or maybe something more akin to lust. Either way, Angeal just didn’t get it. He was simply biding his time, waiting for Zack’s mind to clear from its blonde-haired, blue-eyed haze because he couldn’t possibly imagine this sudden infatuation to amount to anything significant. Of course, Angeal was too diplomatic to say any of that out loud, but Zack felt it in the sting of his next attack.

It hurt a little, the judgement, the false impression. It hurt because Zack understood it, in principle.

And yet, the feeling remained. In fact, it continued to grow with each passing day and each passing streak of sunbeam yellow on the streets until Zack nearly wept at the sight of blue eyes, true or not. 

Then, after a week, Cloud felt like nothing more than a figment of Zack’s imagination until he ran into him again on a corner of Wall Market, all beauty and boredom amidst the dingy backdrop that was Midgar’s finest — and crudest — glorified hovel.

“I was afraid I’d never see you again,” Zack whispered breathlessly, though it wasn’t exactly a result of his sprint to keep up with Cloud who had turned tail and bolted down the street upon spotting Zack. No, it was more of a, ‘this man is literally breathtaking’ kind of affect. Cloud just had that kinda effect, apparently. “Do you live around here?”

“First you ask for my name after following me around for hours, and now you’re trying to get me to tell you where I live? Are you stupid or just overly confident in yourself?” Cloud sneered. Like this, trapped between a rock and a hard place, AKA the side of a run-down bar and an electric fence plastered with ‘trespassers will be shot’ sign, he once again resembled a kitten; a world-weary, hissing kitten with the brightest blue eyes that could kill if the powers that may be would allow it, but a kitten nonetheless.

And Zack wanted to pet him. He wanted to scoop Cloud up and endure all the furious bites and scratches Cloud would undoubtedly inflict upon him for being so presumptuous. But Zack would be so sweet nonetheless. He’d feed Cloud the best food he could get his grubby hands on before swaddling him in the softest blankets and most enticing smells. Soon enough, Cloud would adore him. Wouldn’t dream of living on his own again, not when he could bask in Zack’s comforts.

Except, Cloud wasn’t actually a stray cat. Instead, he was a beautiful, irate young man staring up at Zack expectantly. 

“You don’t have to tell me where you live,” Zack explained hastily. “Not exactly. Like, not your address. I was just wondering if you lived in the area.”

Cloud tilted his head, and his frown deepened. 

“Shinra must really be lacking good new recruits if they let someone like you into SOLDIER. Second Class, too.”

“Probably,” Zack admitted lightly. He was never good at knowing the right things to say. Not like Angeal, at least. For now, he’d keep quiet, no matter how difficult a task.

Cloud huffed out a nearly inaudible chuckle, and Zack almost died from relief. “Look, are you here about the money? Because if you are, I can only say it was your own fault you lost it. You should know how things work around here by now.”

Zack blinked, and Cloud’s radiance gilded the back of his eyelids. “What money?”

Cloud blinked back. “You serious right now?”

The money? What money? Did Zack secretly owe Cloud money from a bet he drunkenly blacked-out from his memory? Except, he’d been a SOLDIER for awhile now, and the mako they kept pumping into them made it pretty hard to get that drunk anymore, so that wasn’t a very great hypothesis.

No, wait — the money. The money missing from Zack’s wallet the morning after meeting Cloud. That sad morning when everything from the night prior felt like nothing more than a lonely sucker’s fantasy, except for the money missing from his wallet.

The money that had, tentatively, made Cloud real. 

Well, that was one lackluster mystery solved, he supposed. “Well, I guess there’s nothing much I can say about the money thing. Everyone keeps telling me to stop carrying so much money around at once.”

“Then you don’t really have any business with me, right? I know Shinra might not be the most righteous group out there, but I didn’t think they let SOLDIER’s go around shaking people down for a couple hundred gil.”

Zack shook his head, and he hoped the plaintive sensation bubbling up in the back of his throat didn’t look as obvious as it felt. “That’s not what I’m here for, or why I… _followed_ you,” he said delicately. “I’m just happy to see you again.

He always imagined he’d be better than this. His actions would be smoother, gaze upon the object of his affections with a more enticing smile. He’d say all the right words with enviable ease, and everything would end happily with a lovely date and maybe even a fun romp in the bedroom. It would be, for all intents and purposes, pretty perfect. 

Except, Cloud wasn’t staring back at Zack with matched fascination. In fact, Zack might even say he looked wholly unimpressed with Zack.

A far from perfect reaction, really. 

And that simply wouldn’t do.

So, Zack opened his mouth once more and let it all out because he was already flailing on the floor like a headless carp, so why not keep it going? It was better than nothing, he told himself as consolation. “So, uh… You busy right now?”

One of Cloud’s pretty blonde eyebrows flew up into a harsh arc as the corner of his lips dipped downwards. “What do you think?”

Zack let his eyes rove over Cloud’s body. It wasn’t difficult to appreciate all of the lean muscle covering Cloud’s slight frame, considering his figure-hugging clothing, all black and all skin and all on an irresistible display beneath flickering neon lights.  
  
And he was pale. So much so that Zack could clearly see the blue running through his veins. Silently, he traced his eyes over the winding paths they traversed, and he wondered how easily Cloud’s skin would take to a hickey or two or more.

“I guess with that tone you must be,” Zack eventually responded, but his voice felt strange in his mouth with how dry his lips were. He licked them once, and he imagined Cloud’s lips under his tongue instead of his own. 

“Now you’re starting to get it. Now, I’d appreciate it if you stopped hovering over me like that. You’re scaring off the customers.”

_Customers._

Now, even with how mindless Cloud’s visage left Zack, he wasn’t dumb; not _that_ dumb, at least. He knew what customers meant around here, and he knew even the mere suggestion infuriated the green-eyed beast inside him.

“I thought you said you’d go on a date with me if I managed to find you again,” Zack said slowly.

Cloud rolled his baby blues at Zack with a sigh. “I said I’d consider it.”

“So? Have you?”

“Yes,” Cloud deadpanned, “and the answer is no.”

Clearly, Zack’s continued floundering was doing him no favors. Fortunately, he had never been one to give up. His ma used to throw a fit about his reckless tenacity towards all his flights of fancy, but there was no time for him to regret it as he reached for his re-filled wallet in what could only be described as a loving frenzy.

“Well, what if I was your customer for tonight?” he asked, fighting to keep his voice light despite the jealous rage blooming across his chest.

Cloud blinked once before answering. “You being serious this time or what?”

“Dead serious.”

Silence bubbled over them. Slowly, Cloud peered his head forward to look into Zack’s wallet. “Alright. Let’s go.”

Apparently, it was just that easy. 

Or, maybe it was just that hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOL what am i doinggg, idk this is so self-indulgent, but i hope you guys also enjoy it haha
> 
> please let me know what you think!!


	2. Chapter 2

They walked, silent, and Cloud led Zack to a hotel that was, to say the least, absolutely disgusting. Molding wood paneling peeled away from the loose scaffolding they so desperately clung to, interspersed between a few dirty windows held together by little more than rusted nails. The whole place looked moments away from falling apart at the bit. Its only saving grace was likely the plate covering it, keeping away any strong winds that might come along. 

Of course, the plate was the same thing keeping it in such a sad state in the first place, but those were just semantics nowadays. No one needed pitying explanations for the same old news. 

Not to mention, these things were common around here. In fact, for many a roof and running water were a luxury. Zack knew that. He respected that. Made a concerted effort to not be the guy who turned his nose up at others just because he managed to rise up in the ranks a bit. His ma raised him better than that.

Unfortunately, an excellent upbringing by a wonderful woman did not change the fact that Zack refused to let pretty little Cloud anywhere near such a filthy place. 

“No, not here,” Zack said, grabbing Cloud’s arm. It was skinnier than it looked. 

Cloud gave him an icy look before pulling his arm away. “What, this not good enough for you? You think I’m gonna pay extra just so you can fuck me on a bed with a headboard or something?

For some reason, Zack’s first instinct prompted him to say, “I don’t plan on fucking you tonight,” and he felt ridiculous as soon the words finished tumbling out of his mouth.

Cloud raised a pretty blonde eyebrow at him. Zack didn’t think it possible, but Cloud might have grown even more unimpressed with him. Evidently, Zack had a knack for it. 

Which was unfortunate.

“I mean, I don’t want to be presumptuous. So, I was thinking we could just hang out tonight, get to know each other a little better, and _then_ maybe roll around in the sheets a bit if you decide to like me enough,” Zack quickly amended. He added one of his famous smiles for extra effect.

Cloud didn’t return it, but at least he looked slightly more amenable.

“You do know that you’re paying me, right? This isn’t some casual date. You sure you wanna waste Shinra’s money on someone who won’t even put out?” Cloud asked, voice light in the wind, belying the steel-laden edge of his tone. 

Zack hocked down a huge gob of spit before responding. He had to, because hearing Cloud speak like that made his dick twitch and saliva well up in the back of his mouth from sick desire. “I don’t see anything wrong with spending the mega-corporation money I've rightfully earned on you. That’s also why I insist we go somewhere else. My treat.”

Several seconds of silence passed by in agony. Patience was a virtue -- but not one Zack could personally boast about. Cloud, however, was apparently determined to make Zack stew in his own restlessness. 

Oh, Cloud was good. Almost as good as Angeal. Or, maybe he was better. 

“It’s your money, so it’s your call,” Cloud finally replied. “Just don’t bitch at me about it later. I may not be a hotshot SOLDIER, but I know how to deal with unruly clients.”

“Don’t worry, I know. You showed me that last time.”

A ghost of a smile flitted across Cloud’s face, like the wings of days gone by. “I’m glad you remember.”

“Hard to forget something like that. Not that I’d want to, anyway. How could I ever want to forget how we met? It’ll be a story for the ages, I bet. A new kinda fairytale to tell the kiddos.”

Cloud snorted, and even that sounded like a hymn from the heavens. If Zack were more like Genesis, he’d probably start waxing poetic about it. Thankfully he wasn’t, so he just flashed one of his famous smiles before not-so-subtly leading Cloud away from cesspool incarnate disguised as a motel.

“So, uh, you have any other places in mind? I don’t know this area very well, to be honest,” Zack admitted sheepishly. 

With another uninspired grunt, Cloud glanced over his shoulder to look back at Zack. By doing so, his neck stretched long, and a tantalizing line of musculature peeked its head out. Zack followed it, starting from Cloud chin right down to Cloud’s barely visible collarbones. For a guy trying to attract _customers_ with his body, Cloud sure hid a lot of it behind layers of black clothing. 

But maybe that was the point. Maybe the trick was to entice the passerby’s via wanting. Show just enough skin, just enough skin tight curve to leave them craving more. So desperate for more that money became nothing more than a means to an end that involved laying in bed with the most stunning creature to ever walk the streets of Midgar — nay, the world. 

And then, even for just one night, money was not power.

(Zack wanted more than one night. He wanted a life.)

“You don’t come around here often? Or are you just trying to save face?” Cloud asked, bursting Zack’s burgeoning fantasy of the two of them living out the rest of their lives together in quaint happiness, surrounded by open fields and the smell of real trees. 

“I visited a few times when I first made it into SOLDIER, but then I got too busy to swing by much,” Zack replied.

“That so? Lots of other Shinra dregs are here almost every day.”

Zack shrugged, quickening his pace to better match Cloud’s. Cloud observed him from the corner of his eye, took in careful consideration of Zack’s every move, all the way from how Zack nervously pushed one of his unruly bangs out of his eyes to Zack’s barely-concealed stumble, born from his need to get a closer look at Cloud’s profile.

There, Zack spotted a button nose, plump lips pursed up in scrutiny, high cheekbones that caught every flash of neon lighting above them, and long, blonde eyelashes that kissed the tops of his cheeks with each blink. 

Gods, Cloud was a fucking dream.

“Some Shinra employees have too much free time on their hands. Especially for how much money they make,” Zack eventually answered.

“Well, they’re clearly getting paid too much if they can afford to spend it on someone like me,” Cloud said. 

“You’re worth every gil,” Zack countered eagerly. 

Cloud furrowed his brow and shot Zack a pinch frown. “Sweet-talking comes easy to you, huh? You must be the type who goes around complimenting anyone you think might care.”

“That’s not _entirely_ true,” Zack said because he sure did inherit his dad’s love of harmless, if not ham-fisted, flirting, but Cloud was not that. He was not a random pretty face in the street that Zack could force a good-natured laugh from with a snarky grin and wink. He was not a familiar-faced secretary who, while clearly disinterested in Zack, still played along with his half-hearted game because it was better than nothing. 

Because the days dragged on long, sometimes. Shinra was all work and no play, except for those above them. 

So high above, nestled in their penthouse suites, awash with fine china, plush carpets, and all the other useless luxuries their money could buy. Weak in some aspects. Untouchable in others. 

Because they had money, and money was power. 

But they were normal people. Normal people who commanded, but normal nonetheless. 

Ordinary. 

Cloud was not mundane or ordinary like the rest of them. Cloud was beautiful, a beacon of pure grace. A lovely little thing even as he kicked abandoned bottles of counterfeit elixirs down the street until they shattered against the side of a long-abandoned shack. 

“I guess you’re right. After all, if you were the type, I’d expect you to be better at it,” Cloud said. His words rang harsh, but the gentle ease creased in his face was more than enough to send Zack’s mind whirring with glee. 

Zack all but skipped as he shimmied his way even further inside Cloud’s vicinity. “I just haven’t found the right person to truly hone my craft with. Not until recently, at least.”

A very impressive eye roll greeted him. Regardless, Cloud still walked beside him without a single qualm. And then, he stopped, gesturing to a building on their left. “Is this good enough for you?”

Immediately, Zack breathed easier at the site of the hotel’s exterior. While still small and likely cramped, at least he spotted some degree of upkeep to its walls. Furthermore, there were no ominous flickering lights peeking through cracked window panes, and the place smelled inoffensive enough.

But, for Wall Market, that was all one could really ask for. 

“Looks good to me,” Zack said. This time, he took the lead and opened the door for Cloud with a flourish and small bow of his head. “After you.”

“Whatever.”

In the end, money was little issue. First of all, nothing down here was that expensive, especially not after flashing his SOLDIER ID card in the right faces. Secondly, as taciturn as Cloud could be, he drew a hard bargain. 

“I’m surprised you haggled this room down for me. Didn’t think you’d care about how much money I spent,” Zack said. The door closed behind them with a gentle click, and they were alone, surrounded by steel blue walls, a hastily-made bed, and a small bathroom stocked with the barest essentials.

(Did the essentials include lube and condoms? Zack hadn’t thought about it until just now. What a joke of a sweet-talker he’d proven himself to be.

Of course, he hadn’t propositioned Cloud just to have sex with him. Certainly not. Still, how could he possibly deny the fact that he wanted so, so badly to see Cloud moaning beneath him, eyes lidded heavy and pretty mouth fell open in ecstasy?)

Cloud shrugged, the quintessence of cool, casual, and cruel in his aloof appraisal. “I just hate seeing people getting ripped off. Even people like you who have the money to burn.”

Gingerly, Zack sat down on the edge of the bed. It felt more comfortable than he expected, but a slight bounce made the springs underneath clear. If somehow they did end up sprawled in bed together — unclothed, raging with need and adoration — Zack made a mental note to make sure Cloud kept off the worn ones. 

“You’re a pretty nice guy, all things considered,” Zack said. 

Cloud scoffed, so hard his pupils shimmered. “Didn’t know Shinra let people as gullible as you into a SOLDIER.”

“I guess I was just that good.”

“Whatever you say.”

As soon as they entered the room, Cloud had planted himself in a corner of the room near the door, and there he still stood. Rationally, Zack understood why. Best to keep oneself safe over trying to coddle the ego of a military man who kept popping up everywhere. That was just common sense, really. 

At the same time, Zack was a needy boy. Always had been, according to his dad. His ma, on the other hand, would just laugh it off because she loved having a devoted mama’s boy to cling onto her skirt. Unfortunately, he wasn’t so little anymore, and he wasn’t so cute, either. 

He could still try to be, though. 

“So, how long have you lived in Midgar?” Zack asked, masking his hesitance with false bravado, just like he had as a kid. “If you’re new to the area, I could show you around. Take you up on the plate, if you’d like. I have access to all the Sectors.”

Cloud stared him down for a few long, drawn-out seconds before he answering. “Don’t bother yourself with any of that. I’ve been here for awhile.”

“Cool, cool. How long have you been here, then?” Zack soldiered on because that’s what he did best. 

Cloud scowled at him, baby-peach skin scrunched up like mad. “What are you doing?”

A bit difficult to soldier on past something like that. 

Zack sighed, and dropped the cocky smile in place of a more hopeful one. Maybe that would appease Cloud. “Look, I get that you don’t know what to do with me because I’m the weird guy who practically begged you to hang out with him tonight, even after you drugged and robbed me, but, if I was gonna do something to you, don’t you think I would’ve done it by now? Not to keep harping on it because I'm sure you've heard enough of it, but I _am_ a SOLDIER. I’m sure I could handle you without a problem, now that I know one of your trick. So, I don’t mind if you keep your distance, but at least talk to me, yeah? I mean, I'm a paying customer, aren't I?”

A crack surfaced on Cloud’s face. A tiny little thing, thin as a wisp and barely visible, but there. It spread in a languid trickle — like a single drop of water clinging to the side of Zack’s old bedroom window, strange and singular amidst the lingering chill.

That one drop always came with the first rain of the year. Then came the crops, the harvest, the peach nectar dripping down his chin because his parents always saved the softest and sweetest one for Zack. He’d lap up the errant juice off his elbow, much to his ma’s chagrin, but she would simply laugh as she urged him to wipe himself down properly. She'd hand him an old napkin, its homespun designs faded with time, and he, too, would laugh then.

In hindsight, his stubbornness may have been due to his upbringing. A little spoiled here, sometimes strict there, but always the forefront of his parents’ minds. Their only child, a healthy boy who loved to run at their heels. A good child, too. He was sure of that. And for that, he always got what he wanted in the end.

The crack spread further, straight down until it splintered, diverged, and ran winding paths down the peaks and grooves of Cloud’s face. Zack followed it religiously until, finally, Cloud broke.

“Fine,” Cloud said, stepping away from the entrance towards Zack, as slow as a freshly born colt learning to walk. “You really wanna pay me to have a pretend date with you right now?”

“If that’s what you wanna call it, then yes, I do.”

The pieces of Cloud furled and fell until all that remained was the baby-smooth skin of Cloud’s face, free and open for Zack to delight in, and Zack couldn't possibly control the pleased smile streaking across his face. 

In turn, Cloud sighed as he sat down beside Zack. The mattress creaked ominously beneath their combined weight, but it held fast. A good sign.

“Alright, but you gotta answer some questions first,” Cloud said. 

A fold. Cloud's hand was down, something to be discarded, and the intricate designs on the back of the cards swirled. Zack considered it a mirthful look, hidden somewhere in the aimless patterns. At the very least, that was how he felt. 

“Deal.”

“First, what’s a busy SOLDIER like you doing around here? Don’t you have better things to do, or are you _actually_ stalking me?” Cloud asked. 

“Not like I don’t get any free time. Don't people say Wall Market has something for everybody if they're willing to look for it?”

“Either way, you made it sound like you don't really care for this part of town.”

“There was an incident I had to deal with nearby. Afterwards, I figured I might as well check out. See if anything had changed since the last time I’d been here.”

“And then you found me.”

“And then I found you,” Zack echoed. “Again.”

“Hell of a coincidence, if that's the truth."

“I wouldn’t lie to you. Not on our first date.”

“I thought a first date would be a perfect time to lie. Gotta impress them somehow, right?” Cloud argued.

“Do I look like I need to lie to impress someone?”

Cloud laughed, sharp and sudden, bubbling out of him. It escaped his lips in a deluge, leaping from his lips as lightly as a doe in a frosted field, long-legged and hungry. The sound seemed to surprise Cloud, as if he hadn’t heard such a noise for quite some time. 

He stilled. Time stilled. Zack held his breath as he awaited Cloud’s response.

“I don’t know about that,” Cloud said slowly. “You look pretty scrawny for a SOLDIER. Might disappoint someone that way.” 

“Don’t need too much muscle in this field. Not with the mako.”

This time, when Cloud turned to observe Zack, he really looked at him. Looked at his face, let his eyes wander over the landscape of Zack’s face. They flittered here and there, quick and efficient, until they landed on his eyes. 

Zack's new ice blue eyes.

The first time Zack saw his new eyes after his inaugural mako infusion, he screamed. Then, he cried. 

Of course, he knew. He knew the mako would change his eyes. It did for all SOLDIER’s, and most new recruits liked the look of them. They envied their ethereal glow, the way they shone across a crowded hall, and how striking they always looked. They strove for them, the symbolism they held. 

As did Zack. 

Because, during the day, they were a spectacle to behold, molded by untouchable prowess and commanded by the elite. People mixed paints dedicated to the eyes of their favorite SOLDIER’s in an attempt to hold it in their own hands, as fleeting and as fake as they were. 

‘Better than nothing’, they whispered as they bathed their houses in those gemstone hues. ‘Like this, maybe we can pretend it’s real.’ Except, they never quite looked the same. 

In battle, however, those eyes to be feared. And, in those fleeting moments before death, Zack was sure they looked more beautiful than ever. 

“Did you come to Midgar to be a SOLDIER?” Cloud asked. 

Zack breathed in deep. “Why do you think that?”

“Lots of kids come here for that.”

“I guess I did, in a way,” Zack said lightly. “But, really I just wanted to be a hero.”

Cloud looked at him, incredulous. “And you thought Midgar would make you a hero?”

“I don’t know. I just knew I couldn’t be one back home,” Zack replied honestly. 

That promptly sobered Cloud up. “Where’s home for you?”

“A little place called Gongaga.”

Another laugh, not nearly as stunted as the last. In fact, Zack might even say Cloud was mocking him. 

“What’s so funny?” Zack demanded. 

Cloud shook his head as his laughter trickled away, blonde bangs fluttering playfully in front of those blithe baby blue’s of his. He looked so cute like this as he settled into a tentative sense of ease. Younger. Happier. Zack loved to see him like this. “It’s just such a backwater name.”

“Oh yeah? Where are _you_ from? You don’t seem like a Midgar native to me.”

“Nibelheim, up in the northern mountains.”

Zack scoffed. “Like Nibelheim sounds any less backwater than Gongaga.”

“Guess I can't argue with that," and he didn’t try. After all, it was easy to imagine Cloud as a boy from the snowy mountains. 

Zack envisioned him descending down from the sierra, hair a halo, pale skin shimmering beneath the high sun. Something like the yuki-onna from tales of a time long ago. Shrouded in snow tufts, Cloud surely painted a stunning image for weary travelers. Friend or foe, Zack would gladly welcome him. Together, they’d watch the sun cresting over the mountain peaks, and it would be lovely.

Maybe Zack would ask for a mission near Nibelheim soon.

“Sounds like a nice place,” Zack said. “Have you been back recently?”

Cloud’s carefree mood melted away in a moment, and Zack was met with a faraway look that made Cloud look so, so old. “No. I haven’t.” His eyes wavered, turned wistful as they searched his something lost, before returning back to stare directly into Zack’s with feather-soft steel. “What about you? You visit Gongaga a lot?”

Gongaga. Oh, Gongaga.

Gongaga was not Nibelheim, as backwater as they both were. While snow-peaked mountainscapes loomed overhead Nibelheim — according to the maps they forced Zack to study as part of his induction into SOLDIER — Gongaga knew none of that. 

Everything about Gongaga was as lush as it was poor. Her trees grew tall with a crown of wide-lipped leaves that offered shade during warmer days and loving trills of water when the wet months rolled over them. Her cliffsides, too, were swathed in a blanket of greenery, but the only stories they told were those of children, laughing in naïveté, and the old, forgotten men who had nothing left to give anymore. 

Zack had never seen anyone like Cloud on those mountains. He only saw ramshackle huts down below and his parents waving up at him, urging him home to eat dinner while it was still hot, his ma’s eyes gleaming as she beckoned him. 

The mako did strange things. The eyes were just the tip of the iceberg — easily identifiable, but, ultimately, just a curious little side effect compared to everything else.

And Zack didn’t think they’d change him so much. 

His eyes came from his ma. Everyone in Gongaga was sure his dad’s genes would overwhelm her’s, including his dawn hazel eyes. Lo and behold, they were mostly right. Except, Zack was born with his ma’s dusk blue eyes, and the whole town adored him for it. 

“I knew you’d have my eyes because my eyelashes started falling out when I was pregnant with you,” his ma told him once, hands busy kneading the bread Zack begged her to bake for him. “Can’t believe you were causing me trouble even before you were born.”

“But you still love me, right?” Zack had asked. He peeked his head over the countertop to get closer to the action because he always wanted to get closer. 

His ma laughed as she smeared a line of flour on his cheek. “Of course I do.”

Zack loved her too, and he loved having her eyes. 

He did not have her eyes anymore. 

(He didn’t know how to face her without her eyes.)

A know grew in his throat. Insidious and sharp, it clung fierce to the cartilage of his windpipe, shredding it apart more and more with every attempt he made to swallow it down, and it _hurt_.

But SOLDIER’s were designed to deal with pain. 

Because the mako. It did strange things. 

With one last inhale, he sucked it down and met Cloud with an easy smile, teeth held tight to keep the maybe-there, maybe-not blood at bay. “Nah, I haven’t had much time for that since. But enough of the small talk, let’s talk about something else.”

Cloud studied him for a moment, and Zack felt pinned and pricked. For once, though, Cloud took mercy on Zack and said, “Alright,” and Zack breathed again.

(He swallowed again. There was no blood, but, for some reason, he swore he could taste it.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: knows nothing about zack's parents or childhood
> 
> also me: let's write all about zack's parents and his childhood LOL
> 
> anyway, as always, pls let me know what you think!! i am a big poopy head and i don't often respond to comments tbh, but i always love reading them! <3


	3. Chapter 3

"So, what's it like? Working for Shinra, that is."

Zack looked up from his half-eaten granola bar and found himself staring back at a curious Cloud, and the sticky, honeyed residue of the crumbs stuck to his teeth something fierce. He had offered to order them some room service because any chance to butter Cloud up was a chance he'd pounce on in a heartbeat, but, apparently, even the nicer hotels of Wall Market only had vending machine snacks to offer their guests.

At least they had booze. Zack's glass of beer had been emptied a while ago, while Cloud continued to nurse his cocktail between long, bony fingers. Zack wasn't sure what was in the drink, but, judging by the flush creeping across Cloud's face, it must've been pretty strong. Though, with how pale Cloud was, even the slightest hint of color would show up bright as a balefire. Zack wouldn't be surprised if even the slightest bump turned into the nastiest, dusk purple bruise on skin like that.

And the tiniest nibble on the side of his neck would surely burn bright red for days to come.

Hastily, Zack scarfed down the rest of his granola bar. Anything to give him a few moments to clear his head. After all, he assured Cloud he had no plans to proposition him for sex or anything even remotely sexy — including heavy petting and hickeys, sadly — and he planned to keep his word.

Cloud deserved nothing less, really.

Stale granola flakes scratched his throat as he swallowed, and, with them, he tucked away thoughts of reds and purples on pale pink skin before smiling, all big and white. "All in all, it's not so bad. They could pay me more, considering all the dangerous missions they send me on. You know, like sending me off to war and stuff with practically no backup, but the perks aren't too bad. I get a lot of free stuff, partial government immunity, and my fans also send me tons of things."

Cloud scoffed as he aimlessly swirled his glass. The drink inside was almost as red as the hickey Zack imagined. A touch too pale to be exactly the same, though. If he ever got the chance to mark Cloud up like that, he’d make it _deep_.

" _You_ have a fan club?" Cloud asked incredulously.

"Of course I do! I am a famous SOLDIER First Class, you know. Tons of people are into us," Zack smiled, leaning in to get a closer look at Cloud's eyes beneath his bangs. Cloud frowned but allowed it, and the blue nearly blinded Zack when he finally caught the glimpse he wanted so badly. "I'll have you know, my fan club has recently doubled in size."

"Doubt it's anywhere near Sephiroth's."

"Well, of course not," Zack sighed. "Guy's a fucking legend, or whatever. Doesn't make me any less impressive, though."

Cloud stared down at his drink. Curiously, Zack, too, peered into it. The reds wandered, as if frenzied, until they became pinks and rose. A chunk of ice clinked against the side of the glass before splitting down the side. One piece floated up to the top, gracious in its ascent. 

The other sank.

Cloud tipped his head back, took a hearty gulp, and bit down on a shard of ice until it crackled, all before turning his attention back to Zack. "What's Sephiroth like?"

Zack wrinkled his nose and tamped down his jealousy. Not exactly the easiest feat, but nothing he couldn't manage, even if it felt like drinking hot tea in reverse. The blue glare reflected off of Cloud's eyes helped dull the pain a bit, at least. "Kinda awkward, to be honest, but nice enough. Not nearly as cool and heroic as everyone paints him to be, but he could be way worse."

Cloud hummed and tilted his head to the side, eyes pointed firmly up to the ceiling. "Interesting."

"You in the Sephiroth fan club or something? Because, if you are, I won't say it's a deal-breaker, but I can't say I approve. Unless you join mine too."

"You think I have enough money laying around to be a part of any of your fan clubs? Those membership fees are criminal."

"Who knows? People have done crazier things for less.”

"I suppose I can't argue with that," Cloud said right before knocking back the rest of his drink. He threw his head back, bared his neck long, and, with each swallow, Zack watched, rapt. He watched the bob of Cloud's Adam's apple, surrounded by layers and lines of musculature, and the way his jaw clenched as he ground up the rest of the ice in his glass.

The neck had lots of muscles. More than most cared to know, probably. Angeal tried to teach him about them, once upon a time. Being the serious, straight-laced, no-nonsense kinda mentor he was, he obviously thought mundane things like basic human anatomy were important to know in their line of work.

Predictably, Zack retained little of it. He didn’t need to know a body to kill one.

Except, he remembered the sternocleidomastoid. That long muscle at the side of the neck that popped out so easily from a simple turn of the head. He remembered it because Angeal harped on it all the time because it helped protect the jugular, the carotid, and all the other important veins and arteries for the brain, and Angeal never failed to note how easy it could be for a person to bleed out if they were unlucky enough — if cut in the right place.

(People bled a lot if you severed their jugular or carotid or whatever else was there. Zack knew because he saw it once, a clean cut right beneath the jaw. The blood pressure there must be great, with how quickly is splattered. Even Zack couldn’t get away with a few bloodstains on his shirt.

He ended up throwing that shirt away.)

Zack thought about all of that as he stared at Cloud’s sternocleidomastoid. He thought about the veins, the arteries, the blood, and the red. So far, Zack had single handedly associated Cloud with blue — the blue of the skies over the sprawling Gongaga backdrop, not the radioactive, smoke-tinged blue Midgar knew — but he figured Cloud would suit red, too.

Not that kinda red, though. A nicer red. A safer red.

The red of the drink was gone. Only a few dregs of ice remained, and Cloud was looking at him curiously. 

Zack put his smile back on and wondered if his gums looked red. “Why do you ask, then? Curious about Shinra? Thinking about joining SOLDIER? I get people asking me questions about it all the time, you know.”

Cloud scoffed. “Yeah, right. I have no interest in being a part of Shinra.”

“You one of those anti-Shinra guys then? Like, AVALANCHE or whatever?”

He was met by a glare beneath a raised brow. 

“Look, you can tell me. I get it in a way, as an insider,” Zack said. 

“I don’t really have any big vendetta against Shinra, or anything like that,” Cloud replied slowly. Carefully. “I just… think they could do better around here for the rest of us, I guess.”

“Well, you’re not wrong. But, what can us little folk do? The rich always know how to get richer,” Zack said. 

(His thoughts wandered again. This time, he thought about the reactor in Gongaga. They demolished an entire cliff side to fit the massive thing in there. Not the cliff overlooking Zack’s house, but the one that snowflakes from the north used to blow over on those special winter days.

He wondered if the snow still came.)

Cloud shrugged, gaze forlorn and far-off. “Yeah.”

“Enough of that, I’d rather not talk about another man right now. We’re on a date here, so let’s get some more drinks. On me.”

* * *

Eventually, they moved on from watered-down beer and dubious mixed drinks to shots of cheap liquor. Cheap, because it went down as smooth as unrefined mako tainted by reactor by-products, and yet criminally overpriced. Zack didn't mind too much, however, because the red-cheeked, glassy-eyed Cloud sitting next to him was worth every gil.

"Can't believe you're still here, just sitting next here and staring at me with that dopey ass look on your face. I figured you would've either insisted on doing something more or stormed off by now," Cloud said. The bottom of his glass dripped with a sheen of leftover liquor, but that didn’t stop him from trying to pour himself another generous helping.

Zack gently pushed a hand down against the already half-empty bottle. “Maybe you should slow down a bit. Night’s still young and all that."

"Young? It's already 2 AM," Cloud countered.

"Even more reason to cut back. It's practically time for bed. As in, going to sleep so we can wake up with a nasty hangover tomorrow."

"We? Do you even get hangovers anymore? You hardly even seem phased."

Zack shrugged. "The mako does mess with alcohol a bit. Doesn't mean I don't remember what it's like, though. You're gonna start puking soon if you keep drinking at this pace."

Cloud rolled his eyes with far more grace than Zack expected. "Aren't you being chivalrous?"

"I'm just trying to keep you from associating me with a bad time. It might ruin any future dates we have."

Cloud flashed him a smile. No teeth, just a long stretch of pink, pink lips against the backdrop of baby-soft skin swathed in one last lingering layer of baby fat. "Maybe you're not as dumb as you look."

"I try."

Suddenly, Cloud grabbed Zack's chin. Either Cloud moved faster than SOLDIER training prepared Zack for, or the barely-there dimple buried in Cloud's cheek was just too distracting. A weapon, even. If Shinra could somehow bottle that up and stick it into a ball of materia, no one would stand a chance, Zack suspected.

Regardless, he let himself be manhandled by Cloud as he pleased because the scrapes on calluses on his fingertips felt surprisingly soothing against Zack's skin. 

Cloud tipped Zack’s head back and brought the rim of the bottle up to Zack’s mouth. Some of the liquor inside spilled out from all the jostling, trickling down Cloud's arm. They moved slowly, as if trying their hardest to savor the ephemeral moment upon Cloud's skin.

Honestly, Zack hated how much he related to drops of cheap booze. Kunsel would probably laugh his ass off if he could see Zack now. Or, perhaps he’d weep over how far Zack had fallen.

“What’re you up to?” Zack teased, even if only to soothe himself. Inches of empty space separated them, stood between them, stalwart and firm, but Zack could still feel the heat emanating from Cloud’s lithe little body, and it haunted him. 

“I wanna see how drunk you SOLDIER types can get,” Cloud hummed. “Or does the mako fuck with your liver, too?”

Cloud’s voice reverberated down his arm into Zack’s skull, like the thrum of an earthquake underfoot. Definitely devastating. A little awe-inspiring, too. Maybe this would be the one to take Midgar down; they did say that, in the past, those pesky natural phenomena and such used to be a nuisance to the city before President Shinra patched it all up with the help of generous donations from men like Don Corneo.

They held a celebration for their greatest and final city infrastructure project. Zack watched it on the old, grainy television set at his neighbor's house because his didn't have one. They parade was a marvelous affair, and Sephiroth looked so fucking cool, standing beside President Shinra, every bit stoic and aloof as he was now. 

If Zack thought about it hard enough, he might recognize that moment as the moment that truly drove him to join Shinra and become a SOLDIER. 

He didn't really want to think about it right now, though. Not when he finally had Cloud’s attention all to himself.

"My liver's fine. They check that shit all the time, so you don't need to worry about little ol' me," Zack responded. 

“Good.”

Cloud tilted Zack’s head back even further, until the strain of his neck verged on painful. Zack felt his pulse throb beneath his skin, and he wondered if Cloud could see the way Zack’s blood wanted him. 

The bottle shifted. Cloud scrutinized him with a ghost of a smile upon his lips. He looked amused. Zack kinda liked that look on him.

So, Zack opened his mouth, and he swallowed. 

It tasted terrible, of course, and it fucking hurt going down. It was what Cloud wanted, though, so he took it in with as much finesse as he could manage.

Thankfully, Cloud had some mercy on him. In the end, he didn’t even give Zack half of what remained before tearing the bottle away and setting it down on the side table.

“You’re fucking ridiculous. You should know better than to let yourself get piss drunk in front of someone you’re paying to hang out with you,” Cloud whispered, baby blues alight.

Zack grinned. “Hey now, don’t underestimate me, baby boy. I’m a hard one to crack. Besides, you can’t say you’re not enjoying my company right now, money or not.”

“You keep telling yourself that.”

Not a denial. Zack would gladly take it.

“Besides, when did I say you could call me ‘baby boy?’” Cloud continued.

The sight of Cloud before him blurred. Apparently, regular infusions of top-grade, painstakingly-purified mako was no match for nearly a cup of hard liquor. Zack’s tongue felt heavy in his mouth, weighed down by cotton kisses and wool mittens, and he could only hope he sounded coherent when he next spoke. “I don’t hear you saying not to.”

Cloud met him with his own booze-dulled grin. “Well, I guess I’ve been called worse things by clients before.”

“Don’t call me your client. Please,” Zack slurred, shimmying over to Cloud with all the decorum of an unearthed worm. “You don’t have to give me a nickname back, but at least say my name.”

Cloud studied him with a blurred look upon his blurred face. At this point, Zack couldn’t tell if the fuzziness was because of his sudden inebriation or the way the alcohol-induced flush on Cloud’s face smudged away his features. 

Ultimately, he figured none of that really mattered when Cloud leaned in, cheek nearly pressed against Zack’s shoulder as he whispered, “Hey, Zack, what if I asked you for a little favor? A little help?”

“What do you need?”

Cloud blinked, drew away from him, and Zack would’ve whined in bereft protest if Cloud’s attention didn’t remain affixed on him.

“You say that like it’s easy,” Cloud said.

“Is it not? What kinda help do you need?”

Blonde tresses shuddered as Cloud shook his head. Unconsciously, as if strung up like a doll to be posed, Zack reached a hand over to brush some of the longer strands out of Cloud’s face. He looked clearer, now, and sadder.

“Forget it. I’m drunk. We’re both so fucking drunk.” He turned his head until his cheek brushed against Zack’s palm, warm and solid. “Let’s go to sleep.”

Zack pouted. Suddenly, time was moving too fast, out of control, and he felt like a kid again, begging his ma to let him stay up and play for just five minutes longer. “But our date.”

That got a chuckle out of Cloud, and he looked a little less sad as he did so. Just a little, though. “You really don’t know when to give up, do you?” 

“Not when it comes to the important things.”

“Now you’re _really_ drunk.”

Zack opened his mouth to protest, and he tried really, really hard to get some convincing words out. Or, any words that made any kind of sense, at least. However, before he could get anything out, Cloud twisted and turned until his palm, instead, lay on Zack’s shoulder, coaxing him down onto the bed. 

The starched sheets were stiff. They scratched at his exposed skin, down near his lower back where his shirt had ridden up from all the excitement. Cloud wasn’t gonna be comfortable on it at all.

“Sorry,” Zack said.

Cloud raised an eyebrow, bemused. “If either one of us is supposed to apologize for anything, I feel like it’d be me.”

“No. No, don’t. You don’t need to, you’re perfect,” Zack rambled.

“I got you more drunk than I thought I would. So, sorry about that, I guess.”

“Don’t say that. Just say my name.”

Cloud pushed down harder. The heat of his hands seeped through Zack’s top, down, down, down, and he folded. Fell back, watched as Cloud followed him until he lay beside Zack on his side, curled up in himself and so small. 

“Go to sleep. Zack.”

And he did.

* * *

Once again, when Zack awoke, he found himself all alone. This time, however, some cash remained in his wallet, though the majority of the bills had been taken. He figured Cloud had earned it, though. They had an agreement, after all. Zack would be the last person to break it, too, because he didn’t want Cloud to stop talking to him for being a big, fat lying asshole.

Still, judging by the hastily-scrawled phone number left behind on the desk, Zack thought he must’ve done well enough in Cloud’s eyes, despite the whining, drunken mess Zack grew to be towards the end of the night.

He texted Cloud immediately. Sent three messages one after another, asking him if he was alright, whether he wanted to meet again, and apologizing again for the lackluster end to their ‘date’. He received no response, but he was happy enough knowing Cloud bothered to read them. If nothing else, that meant Cloud didn’t completely regret giving Zack his number, and, sometimes, small victories needed to be savored. 

(He savored it by running memories of Cloud through his mind whenever possible. The Cloud in his head liked him a bit more than the real one, but that was fine. No harm, no foul in a bit of harmless daydreaming. His fantasy of Cloud told him as much, voice drenched in the sweetest banora apple jam, so it must be true.)

“Something good happen?”

Zack turned, blinked away fleeting visions of blonde and blues from the back of his eyelids, and gave Cissnei a winsome smile. “I guess you could say that.”

“You look absolutely lovestruck. You finally get that researcher to go on a date with you?”

“Nah, I was never really serious about her. That was more of a little game between the two of us to pass the time. I did meet the love of my life the other day, though,” Zack said, and the grin spreading across his face felt totally ridiculous, even to himself. 

Cissnei, apparently, agreed, if the bewildered look on her face meant anything. “What do you mean?”

“His name’s Cloud. I saw him at the festival the other week, and I haven’t been able to forget about him. I even managed to meet him again and get his number after that, so I’d say it’s going… kinda well.”

Now, Cissnei looked ready to laugh instead of admonish him. Whether that was good or bad, Zack couldn’t say. “If you say so. I do recall you going around the company, asking if anyone knew this Cloud. I actually went to the trouble of tracking him down for you, but looks like you had it all under control. Surprisingly.”

“I don’t!” Zack argued, before quickly correcting himself. “I mean, even if I do, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to know what you found out. Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“Didn’t get the chance to. Besides, I didn’t think you’d still be so fixated on him. You do come across as the flighty type, you know,” she explained.

“I’ll have you know that I’m an extremely faithful man!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. To be honest, I wouldn’t mind seeing just how faithful you can be. So, I’ll tell you what I know. _If_ you help me out in return, that is.”

Of course. If nothing else, Cissnei knew how to drive a hard bargain.

He sighed, and she smirked at him the way a winner deserved to. “Fine, what do you want?”

“Need you to help me get out of a ‘meeting’ with Palmer. He doesn’t really want me to go with him, anyway. He just wants a pretty girl on his arm to make himself look good. Unfortunately, he’s picked me this time, and Tseng won’t let me off the hook unless I can find someone else Palmer wants to go with.” She frowned. “And he has turned down all my other suggestions.”

“Hey, I totally get why you’d wanna get out of that, but I regret to inform you, I am not actually a pretty girl despite how gorgeous I look.”

Cissnei rolled her eyes as she twirled a strand of copper umber hair between her fingers. “Well, if you can’t think of a way to help, I guess there’s no reason for me to tell you where the love of your life spends most of his days. I think he’s actually there today, but looks like I’m gonna have to keep that information to myself.”

“Cissnei, come on, cut me some slack. Aren’t we friends?” Zack whined. 

She responded by turning on her teel and walking away. He refuted by chasing after her and nearly stumbling on his own feet in his haste.

“Look, I’ll think of something, ok? And if I can’t, I’ll take the blame for… I don’t know, making you otherwise too busy to be paraded by Palmer like a show dog. So, have some mercy and tell me. Please.”

She turned to him, brow raised. “You really are invested in this Cloud guy, huh?”

“Yeah, that’s what I keep telling you!”

This time, her smile looked genuine and kind. “Alright, who am I to stand in the way of young love? To my understanding, he spends a lot of his days at an abandoned church in the Sector Five slums. It’s a huge building, and you can’t miss it if you just walk around a bit.”

Zack beamed, bouncing impatiently on the balls of his feet. “Thanks Cissnei, you’re the best! I promise I’ll do whatever I can to get you out of Palmer’s greasy little hands!”

“I’m sure you will. You’re going there right now, then? Are you sure your lover boy will appreciate the sudden visit?”

“I hope so because I’m going regardless.”

She rolled her eyes at him again for good measure, but the fond smile she couldn’t keep hidden away softened the blow. “Of course you are. I guess that’s one of your charms.”

And, if he was lucky, Cloud would think so too.

* * *

Cissnei was right. The church was impossible to miss, partly because it looked so sad and worn down, even for the area. Like a gruesome accident, or a man bleeding out on the battlefield, it was impossible to look away from. Nevertheless, it looked strangely beautiful. The cracked stained glass still held fragments of their old tales, and the worn look of the brick gave it a kind of nostalgic tint. At the end of the day, Zack couldn’t help but be charmed by it.

Carefully, making sure not to accidentally jostle anything further lest he ruin the place even more, he walked inside, pushing the front doors open. They creaked loudly under pressure, and, for his efforts, a beautiful young woman in the middle of a field of flowers lifted her head up at his arrival. 

“Oh, hello there. What brings you here?” she asked. Slowly, she gave him a once-over, and her eyes lingered on his SOLDIER emblem for a second too long. And her eyes, they were green. A gorgeous, luminous green that, for a moment, frightened him.

Clearly, beautiful people were terrifying. Cloud, too, scared him a bit, but Zack’s overwhelming adoration for him outstripped anything and everything else. Thankfully, or else he’d never be able to even look at Cloud.

He used thoughts to Cloud to bolster him as he plastered on his best smile. “I’m looking for someone. My friend Cloud. You happen to know him?”

She rose from her kneeling position, silent. The hem of her pink dress fluttered, and her eyes faded away from sight, hidden by a curtain of soft brown hair. Her head remained downcast, her movements almost painfully slow. If Zack had to guess, he’d say she was probably dragging the moment out on purpose. Buying time, or maybe just thinking of the right thing to say.

Either way, he found it a bit disconcerting. 

He opened his mouth and racked his brain for a comforting word. He knew plenty of people didn’t care for Shinra, especially down in the slums, but he didn’t usually deal with things like the dissent and dissatisfaction of sad, starving people. The smooth-talking businessmen in their fancy, fresh-pressed suits were in charge of that. In fact, some of them almost seemed to enjoy it — the whole talking down to the citizens of Midgar as though they were nothing more than a bunch of stupid little kids work, to be specific. 

Zack, on the other hand, was never especially good with his words. 

Thankfully, Cloud swooped in and spared the both of them from their wrought search for something to fill the heavy space between them.

“Zack? What are you doing here?”

Like a blessing, Cloud entered from the back of the church, and Zack’s attention immediately shifted to take him in. During the day, his clothes seemed much more modest, but gods did he still look amazing, even in less skintight ware. He supposed Cloud was just that pretty.

“Do you two know each other?” the pretty lady in pink asked.

“We’re… acquainted,” Cloud answered. “He’s not a bad guy, at the very least.”

“Name’s Zack,” Zack said, giving Little Miss Pretty in Pink another award-winning smile. “And yours?”

She looked slightly taken by his introduction. Well, better than nothing. “Aerith. I’m a friend of Cloud’s.”

“Hey, any friend of Cloud’s is a friend of mine!” Zack extended a hand out, though he kept himself rooted in place. He’d let Aerith decide how far to bridge the distance between them. It felt like the least he could do.

She accepted it easily enough, closing the space between them in a few quick steps, and, this time, she gave him her own gracious smile. “Likewise.”

Nice. Zack felt very nice.

To their side, Cloud sighed, and it sounded both exasperated and oddly endeared. “Alright, now that the introductions are out of the way, you wanna explain why you’re here?”

“Honestly, maybe I am stalking you a bit. I came to see you. A friend of mine told me you came here often during the day,” Zack confessed.

Cloud’s tongue darted out of his mouth, blush red and wet. He licked his lips slowly, and Aerith fixed her bright green eyes on Zack, wondering. Questioning. “You telling me Shinra’s keeping track of me?”

“Not Shinra. Just my friend. She wanted to tease me, I think. Not track you down, or anything,” Zack swiftly amended.

Cloud’s tongue retreated just in time for him to bite his lip, and what a nice lip it was — plump and slick with saliva, it glistened beneath the sunlight filtering through the giant hole in the church ceiling and burned red where Cloud’s teeth rested. 

Zack, of course, wanted nothing more than to saunter over and feel that lip between his own teeth, but there was a pesky little thing called time, place, and occasion. He knew because Angeal loved to remind him of semantics, and, as much as it annoyed him sometimes, Zack couldn’t help but listen to them.

Then, the red disappeared, as did Cloud’s pearly whites. In their place came another sigh as Cloud rolled his head to the side. “Whatever. Anyway, now that you’re here, Mr. Stalker, wanna help me out with something? It’ll be like another date. Or something.”

Zack heard the word ‘date’. He heard Cloud say ‘date’, and he found himself fixated on it, drawn to it like a moth to a flame, or a dumb country boy to fame and glory wrapped up in the promise of being a hero. It sucked him in, consumed him, filled him with delight. So, he smiled. Took a step towards Cloud and nearly swooned at how Cloud seemed to welcome him.

He thought about the Cloud from some odd days ago, drunk as he studied Zack with those pretty, scary eyes of his. He had asked for help, if Zack would help him. Many details of that night were hazy in Zack’s memory, but he remembered that much.

And, endlessly, he wondered what Cloud meant. For some time, he considered asking Cloud, or maybe even offering to do anything Cloud needed from him, no questions asked. Except, Zack was a weak man, so he never mustered up the courage for it.

Fortunately, Cloud was around to do all the hard work for him.

“For you? Of course!” Zack exclaimed.

Cloud met him with a heart-stopping grin. “Good. Let’s go, then.”

Aerith giggled, and it was all very nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, please let me know what you think! :)


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